Arms at schools gang-related?

Jan. 11, 2013

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Gang activity is suspected in five of the six cases involving the discovery of students possessing weapons on Des Moines school grounds this year, but officials say violence is not on the rise.

Six weapons have been confiscated from students so far this school year, district spokesman Phil Roeder said.

They include two guns, one of which was loaded, three knives and a Taser.

The guns were discovered in late November and early December.

None of the weapons were displayed or used.

Gang activity is suspected in five of the cases, and district officials say they are troubled by the incidents.

In addition, the Jan. 2 off-campus beating of a Roosevelt High School student is suspected to be tied to gang activity, but “there’s been no gang violence this year on school grounds,” said Bryce Amos, executive director of learning services and high schools.

“The feedback that I’ve gotten from principals is that we don’t see a lot of (gang) activity on our campuses,” Amos said. “We hear more about what happens outside of school.”

Roughly 8,000 students attend the district’s six high schools.

Amos estimated that 1 to 2 percent of those students are active gang members.

Such identifications are made by staff and members of the Des Moines Police Department, called school resource officers, who are assigned to district buildings.

As a result, relatively few weapons are discovered annually on Des Moines school grounds, Roeder said. Seven weapons each were confiscated in 2011-12 and 2010-11.

“School safety is our number one concern,” Amos said. “We do everything within our authority or power to keep kids safe.”

Gang violence, however, continues to touch Des Moines students.

The 16-year-old Roosevelt student attacked earlier this month was beaten while walking home from school.

He was hospitalized for seizures following the attack.

Students who participate in gang activity during school hours by wearing certain colors or attempting to recruit new members can be expelled, Amos said.

“We’ve had gang activity in Des Moines for a while, it’s not new,” Amos said. “But we not aware of any new gangs (and we’re not seeing) any more (gang) activity than we’ve seen in the past.”

Around 40 gangs are believed to operate in the metro area, according to data from the Des Moines Police Intelligence Unit.

Investigators, however, say there’s nothing to indicate an uptick in activity, said Sgt. Jason Halifax, the department’s public information officer.

“Some of the things that have happened recently have brought it a little bit more to light, but there’s not a huge spike in activity,” he said.

Nonetheless, Hoover senior Guadalupe Jacobo was alarmed to learn a student had carried a loaded gun into her school.

“That doesn’t make me feel safe,” said the 18-year-old, who thinks the district should consider installing metal detectors at its high schools.

Hunter Carver and Cameron McIntosh, both sophomores at Hoover, disagree.

Although people bring weapons to school, most students never intend to use them, the boys said.

“I feel safe for the most part,” said Carver, 15.

Theresa Lewis, co-president of the Roosevelt High School Parent Teacher Association, said she believes violence has decreased at the school in recent years. Her youngest child attends Roosevelt; her two older children are graduates of the school.

“We had conversations recently around the dinner table around this issue,” she said. “It seems like there’s really fewer issues today than when my daughter, who is a junior in college, was there. There’s been a very concerted effort at Roosevelt — and I think the whole district — to make sure that kids are safe.”